Evil Robot Ted: Project Iceworm Volume One (Brokecore, 2016)

Far different from Evil Robot Ted’s more DHR-influenced work, this is a vivid album of decaying ambient/noise/rave loops. It’s silly to really call this ambient, as it’s so pumped up with crackling distortion. But he takes ambient synth pads you might associate with jungle tracks and fries them up until they’re smoking, and then loops them and phases them and pans them and adds additional mind-bleaching effects. Yes, we’ve heard the Lee Gambles of the world do “faded memories of jungle breakdowns but without the breakbeats” thing before, but this is different. There is a hazy nostalgia thing to it, but it’s more than that. It’s frazzled and hallucinatory and not forgiving or comfortable, but yet there’s still an unrestrained joy to it. A couple remixes near the end add beats, and they’re clever and complicated, but still not overwhelming and harsh. This is one of many remarkable ERT releases, and lucky for anyone who’s interested, it is a free download at Bandcamp!